Nightcrawler
Kurt Wagner is a kind hearted, yet demonic looking mutant who is best known as Nightcrawler, member of the X-Men. Background Kurt Wagner has no true idea where he's from. But he's speculated that his real parents wanted nothing to do with him due to his demonic features. He's been told that he was rescued from the frigid river waters by a local gypsy sorceress named Margali Szardos. Naming him Kurt after a former love and Wagner after noticing the Wagner family crest on the blanket he was wrapped in. Feeing the child was special Margali took baby Kurt to a small Bavarian Circus where she worked as a fortune-teller. There Kurt grew up happily in the company of the circus folk, but was never legally adopted, instead he was raised by all members of the circus with Margali acting as his unofficial foster mother and her biological children, Stefan and Jimaine as his closest friends Long before Kurt was able to teleport, he showed that he already had an amazing natural agility and by his adolescence he had become the circus' star acrobat and aerial artist. As the 'Amazing Nightcrawler' Kurt amazed the circus audiences as they assumed he was nothing more then a normal-looking man dressed in a demonic costume. But Kurt's skill wasn't only high above the ground, Kurt had also become quite skillful with a blade as he learned how to fence from the resident sword swallower. When Kurt finally came of age he discovered that he was able to teleport himself from one place to another in the blink of an eye. And it didn't take long for Kurt to add this to the act. Years later a millionaire, who ran a circus based out of Florida, heard about Kurt and decided to buy the Bavarian circus and its star with it. But the man intended on moving the circus' best acts to the American circus. But he demanded that Kurt be part of the 'freak show' because of his demonic appearance. This shocked Kurt to the point where he quit the circus and moved to Winzeldorf, Germany, where his foster brother Stefan was. Unfortunately for Kurt when he arrived he learned that Stefan had gone mad and slaughtered several children. When Kurt finally found Stefan he confronted him in hopes of stopping his rampage. But it was during the struggle, Kurt accidentally broke Stefan's neck. It was then that the villagers of Winzeldorf discovered him holding Stefan's body and ultimately assumed he had been the one who killed the children. After an intense chase through the village, that exhausted Kurt in the process, the villagers cornered him and were about to kill him when they all suddenly froze. A man by the name of Professor Charles Xavier appeared and told Kurt that he had psionically paralyzed them so they could talk. It was then that Xavier explained to Kurt that he had come to invite him to his school in America. It didn't take Kurt long to decide and he agreed to join the Professor in America, but before they left Kurt wanted to go back to Bavaria and tell Margali of Stefan's death, but when he arrived she wasn't there. In fact Kurt found out that Margali held him responsible for Stefan's death. With nothing to hold him, Kurt left for America and the Professor's school. Since his arrival to America Kurt has spent most of his time training with Xavier and his X-Men. He's even taken on the codename Nightcrawler as a way to keep in touch with his past in the circus. As Nightcrawler he's been on many adventures, traveled the world and seen things most people will never see. But Kurt's also been a big help out at the school by being a friend and teacher to many of the younger students. Personality Even though he looks like the personification of a evil, this does not stop Kurt Wagner from being what he really is. A very nice guy. He's the most personable, level headed, fun-loving adventurer whose true role model is the swashbuckling characters portrayed by Errol Flynn. Combined with years of training from both the circus and the X-Men, Kurt walks a thin line which tears him between his deep hunger for adventure and excitement. And the consideration and safety of his friends and teammates. However while there isn't much that can extinguish Kurt's usual happy-go-lucky spirit. The fear, discrimination and all out hatred that is caused by his appearance when around normal people who don't know the kind man inside, tents to wear on the gentle soul within the adventurer. Powers *'Enhanced Senses': Kurt's eyes are extremely different form everyone else. They are yellow in color with no visible sclera or pupils and even seem to glow. And maybe it's this glow that Kurt is granted a degree of heightened vision as well. Making his eyes simply better then most and are able to take in light and amplify it in low-light situation like a cats eyes are able to do. But his sight isn't the only thing that's different. His sense of hearing is almost as advanced as his sight, but not as honed as those mutants categorized a 'feral'. He can hear through doors, notice the sound of footsteps and make out the words of a whisper with ease. But as for hearing a heartbeat, that's beyond his ability. *'Flexibility': Kurt's body is a bit more flexible than the average person. He's able to spend an insane amount of time in any number of positions like: being semi-crouched , without feeling any prolonged pain or damaging his posture. He may be naturally limber, but it took years of training to receive the level of malleability he shows for today. *'Reflexes': While not as fast as those with super speed, Kurt's natural reaction time is far beyond that of a human's natural limits. Though he cant dodge a bullet, he can react quickly to attacks on him by diving, leaping, climbing or even teleporting away. This swiftness may be in part to his unique physical make up. Perhaps it's through a combination of his abnormally flexible bone structure mixed with his heightened senses of sight and sound. All of which is far beyond the capabilities of a normal person. *'Tail': Though considered a curse by some, Kurt finds the fact he has a tail quite amusing. Stretching a little over three and a half feet in length and tipped with an arrow like barb, Kurt's tail is an helpful and amazing part of his anatomy. When he was in the circus the tail served as additional balance. But primarily he uses his tail as a third appendage that is strong enough to support his body weight and it's completely prehensile. So much that it allows him to grab onto objects with relative ease. Such as wrapping itself around a weapon like a sword or blunt object when in a fight. *'Teleportation'.: Kurts primary power is his ability to teleport himself via opening a portal to another dimension then reemerging in another place up to three miles north or south or up to 2 miles east or west. Teleporting vertically is much more difficult, but he can manage 2 miles if he exerts himself. The trip takes place almost instantly, so Kurt is totally unaware of what the other dimension is like, although there is a hint to what it's like through the smoke and the faint scent of burning brimstone each time he teleports. A loud noise, commonly called a BAMF, is always present whenever he teleports, this is the sound of air rushing to fill the space he was just occupying. *'Wall-clinging': Through means that are uncertain even to him, Kurt is able to adhere to objects with the surfaces of his hands and feet. Just by touching the surface he's able to easily cling to it no matter what it's made of. Materials like cement, plastic, steel and wood leave him little to no problems when moving across them. But materials like glass and tile make it a little harder, but not impossible to move across the surface. Skills Much like the literary Musketeer, Aramis, he's charming, an excellent swordsman with his own style and quite religious. But unlike the Musketeer he was raised under the big top of a circus as a trapeze artist. There he leaned to train his body as well as learned a few languages in it travels. Now residing in America, under the roof provided by Charles Xavier, he uses his talents to teach and train young mutants the life lessons he has learned. Boons Image inducer: Kurt likes uses a personal holographic device when he goes into public. Shaped much like a ordinary digital wrist watch. It produces a holographic image of himself, or anyone he chooses as an ordinary looking human so that he might interact with non-mutants in a normal fashion. He merely chooses the image of who he wants to look like and the image is projected over the surface of his body. Sensors built into it track his movements allowing the hologram to move with him. X-Men: Created by Professor Charles Xavier, the X-Men is a group of people called mutants, who have unique abilities. While some look like a normal person others, like Kurt, are seen as monsters and feared. However the X-men do not see that. They see someone in need and tend to help them. And while they have fought side by side as a team, to Kurt they are more then that. They are closer to him as any blood relative. Making any need for help instantly responded to. And he believes the same would be said if the need was reversed. Flaws Appearance: It doesn't take much to realize that Kurt is different from everyone else. Many would call him a demon and it's hard not to see why. With pointed ears, pronounced fang-like canine teeth, three digits on each hand, two toes on each foot, blue skin covered in very fine indigo-fur covering his body and a three foot long prehensile tail. Those traits alone scream evil to a person with a closed mind. And for most people that's all they see. enough for anyone to see the bad. Enemies: Kurt has made a few enemies in his time with the X-Men. Which isn't hard to believe with life he lives. Some are just enemies of Xavier's who he's gone up against to protect the world from their demented ways. Then there are those who are just misguided because they think, just because he looks like a demon, he must be evil. And he holds no hard feeling towards the people, but it hurts him deeply that people still think this way. And then there's the last group who are more personal and nearest to him. Like his birth mother, who he discovered was the assassin known as Mystique. ' No Killing': Kurt has done many things, but the one thing he refuses to do is take another life. Making what he does quite a paradox. As an X-Men he has hurt many people who are considered dangerous. However he won't take it beyond that line where that person's life would be in danger. In fact, he'll go to great lengths to save even those he may consider his enemies. If put in a situation where the lives of others are at stake, he'll gladly sacrifice himself if t means everyone comes away safe. Remorse: Kurt is very hard on himself for his mistakes, no matter how small they may be. The one that hurts the most is his involvement with the accidental death of Stefan. He knows that he's not perfect, but even so, he strives to achieve that unattainable state in all that he does. He tends to be serious-minded and somber, turning to downright depressed when he dwells too long on his past mistakes. And at times he doesn't want to risk anyone getting too close and inadvertently being hurt by his actions. Logs Including Nightcrawler Category:Taken Feature Character